[Tex/LaTex] How to create a new environment including a table environment and tabularx environment

Question

How do I create my own new environment of a selfscaling tabularx table, as well as a caption added to it and maybe colored rows? The caption should not be added using the odd flowing captionof command, but rather in a real tabular environment.

If I add \begin{tabularx} in a \newenvironment or the command form \tabularx after a \begin{table}, I always get this error:

File ended while scanning use of \TX@get@body.

Answer 1

The problem with the tabularx environment is, that it is not an actual environment. It is a wrapped command somehow denying any \end after the actual \endtabularx. The solution is to use the command form for both table and tabularx.

\newenvironment{xtable}[1]{
\table
\tabularx{\linewidth}{#1}}
{\endtabularx
    \endtable}

This is a complete Tex Sample for the table below.

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{report}   
\usepackage[english]{babel}              
\usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[table]{xcolor}
\usepackage{tabularx}

%Colors
\definecolor{colorTabHead}{gray}{0.3}
\definecolor{colorTab1}{gray}{0.92}
\definecolor{colorTab2}{gray}{0.88}
\definecolor{white}{gray}{1.00} 

%Table header
\newcommand{\sthead}[1]
{\cellcolor{colorTabHead}
    \textcolor{white}{\sffamily\bfseries #1}}

%New centered X column named Y
\newcolumntype{Y}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}X}

%Table environment
\newenvironment{xtable}[3]{
    \table
    \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.20}
    \caption{#2 \label{#3}}
    \bigskip
    \rowcolors{1}{colorTab1}{colorTab2}
    \small\tabularx{\linewidth}{#1}}
{\endtabularx
    \endtable}

\begin{document}
    \begin{xtable}{XY}{XTable}{tab:fox}
        \sthead{X Column} & \sthead{Y Column}\\
        The quick brown fox jumps over \newline the lazy dog & The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog\\
    \end{xtable}
\end{document}

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